1. Field of the Invention
The application relates generally to strontium titanate (SrTiO3), and more particularly to forming strontium titanate with large single crystal domains.
2. Description of the Related Art
Crystalline strontium titanate (SrTiO3) is an interesting material as a building block for functional oxides with exotic properties, such as very high dielectric permittivities, very high electron mobility, superconductivity or colossal magnetoresistance, as well as piezoelectricity, pyroelectricity and ferroelectricity. Examples include Pb(Zr,Ti)O3, (Ba,Sr)TiO3, LiNbO3, BaTiO3, CaTiO3, Sr1-xLaxTiO3, La1-xSrxMnO3, Nd1-xSrxMnO3, etc. SrTiO3 is itself an interesting complex dielectric material in its own right, exhibiting quantum paraelectric insulation, ferroelectricitiy and superconductivity in various natural, strained and doped forms. Moreover, the cubic perovskite crystal structure of SrTiO3 is compatible with, and can serve as a heterostructure template for many such exotic functional oxides, particularly those that take the form ABO3 perovskites and related layer compounds.
However, SrTiO3 is difficult to obtain in large substrates for forming functional oxides thereover. Typically SrTiO3 wafers are only available up to 50 mm in diameter, limiting their usefulness for commercial scale production.
Accordingly, there is a need for methods of providing large scale SrTiO3 crystals in commercially useful form.